Posted on 02/16/2006 11:38:31 AM PST by Willie Green
Yes and probably not.
Could you make the home smaller if you thought the heating bills were too high?
As long as I'm paying the mortgage I can do anything I want to the house provided I get the permits. But how many people would spend money to reduce the value of their home just to cut energy costs? That's a ridiculous scenario.
Have a major sickness in the family that causes the loss of the house due to forclosure. See what amount of that equity you get.
What percent of all homes in this country are foreclosed on every year for this reason? It still doesn't counter the fact that the average household owns 57% equity in their home and home ownership is at an all time high.
Are there tax advantages to living in a home as opposed to renting? Does the lender or the homeowner realize those benefits?
BTTT! Excellent response to the "let them eat cake" crowd around here.
Obviously the American people see the reality of their lives more clearly than the globalism boosters on this board. Are you going to argue with the American people and tell them that they are stupid ?
Wouldn't a more intelligent response be to accept that once again, the man in the street sees things a lot more clearly than the so-called expert ?
Reagan Man, this economy is great for people who live off of returns on investment and equity. Lousy for people who live off of paychecks.
"Personal saving is only one part of national saving. The personal saving rate does not include corporate saving in the form of retained earnings; but corporate saving adds to the wealth of corporate shareholders and supplies funds for investment."
So in other words we are seeing a massive transfer of wealth from people who live off of paychecks to people who benefit from cheap labor.
If you live off of financial services and returns on investment then globalist cheap labor is just peachy. Problem is, most people live off of paychecks and cheap labor means lower paychecks for them. Your focus on the Dow is entirely on what benefits people who live off of returns on investment. People who live off of paychecks know that their circumstances are worse than 1998. Give the American people credit for having the common sense to know what their household economic circumstances are.
It may be but the fact that you have to get permission to do so means you don't "own" a home that's under a mortgaga.
It still doesn't counter the fact that the average household owns 57% equity in their home and home ownership is at an all time high.
You don't "own" the home outright if there is a mortgage. It doesn't matter who the profits a sale go to. You can't sell the house or do anything you want to it without the banks permission. I can do anything I want to my cars but not to my home. I must get approval either from the town or the bank. How can that be if I own it?
Equity is a meaningless number. It's a value that can't be realized without giving up the home. Even equity loans further consolidate the bank's ownwership of the property.
If the house burns to the ground or is destroyed by a tornado who gets the money? The bank does.
Is that how you see America? As a Dow number?
Who is "the man in the street" here? William R. Hawkins? Pat Buchanan?
Do you mean that if I have a home without a mortgage I don't have to get permits from the city/county to remodel or expand? The bank doesn't care what I do to the house as long as I make my payments on time.
You can't sell the house or do anything you want to it without the banks permission. I can do anything I want to my cars but not to my home. I must get approval either from the town or the bank. How can that be if I own it?
I don't have any idea what you're talking about. I have to get the banks permission to sell my house? What? I've sold two houses in the last 10 years and I never asked for permission from my lender. Last year I gutted my current home, remodeled and even added additional square footage. My contractor had to pull all sorts of permits from the county. I never had to get permission of any kind from my mortgage company.
Equity is a meaningless number.
Is that why the fed counts it as an asset? If it's meaningless, why is it I can borrow money against it and use the interest paid as a tax deduction?
If the house burns to the ground or is destroyed by a tornado who gets the money?
I'm well insured so the bank would be paid the remaining amount outstanding and I'd get the rest. Other than my deductible, it wouldn't make a bit of difference, at this time, if it burned to the ground or was sold at market value.
The average American is economically illiterate and has only his own personal state of wellbeing to use as a gauge. He couldn't tell you the President's "Plan" to save his life. If he's feeling good then the president is doing fine. If he feels strapped, then the president is failing, even if his strapped feeling is because of his own foolish financial mismanagement. He gets this concept of blame shifting from the MSM, who feed him what they want him to think.
Are you taxed on equity? No? That should tell you all you need to know about its value and worth to you as a tangible asset. The reason the fed uses it as an asset is because they want to boost their numbers to make the economy look better.
We disagree on home ownership under a mortgage. I do no own my home. Yes, there are advantages to having a mortgage but it is not outright ownership. Saying that more Americans "own" their homes than ever before is a numbers game.
I am an engineer. I work for Westinghouse and we are severely short of engineers. We're looking to hire hundreds in the Pittsburgh and Hartford areas. Mechanical, Chemical and some Civil and Electrical. I get $1000 if a refer someone who is hired. If you're looking for work, let me know by private reply and I'll let you know what info needs to be sent and where.
Our homes are regularly reassessed by the county taxing authority. When they do this, they value your home based on the new market value and your taxes are raised accordingly. Try again?
The reason the fed uses it as an asset is because they want to boost their numbers to make the economy look better.
I knew the tin foil would come out eventually. My house has doubled in value since I purchased it according to my Realtor. If I sell it tomorrow at twice the price I paid for it I get to keep the equity and the fed would have been correct. Right? The annual aggregate value of real estate has increased in this country every year since before WWII. I think it's pretty safe to say that the equity in a home is real and can be valued as an asset.
Yes, there are advantages to having a mortgage but it is not outright ownership.
Earlier, you said they did not own their home. Now you've had to qualify it by saying they do not own it outright. Nice back peddle.
Saying that more Americans "own" their homes than ever before is a numbers game
So those people would be better off renting? Admit it, those numbers show that the average American is doing damn well in this economy and that fact makes it much harder for you to sell your doom and gloom.
Nice try.
Net household worth is at an all time high. 15 trillion.
Manufacturing expands for the 32nd month in a row.
Consumer confidence is high.
And wage growth outpaces inflation.
Go sell your gloom somewhere else.
you are wrong about wage growth. take out government workers, remove wage gains of those making $250K+, private sector middle class workers are falling behind. and pension snd medical are being cut too. and offshoring proceeds unabated.
the polls on the economy are what they are.
Sorry! I meant to turn off the sarcasm tag. < /sarcasm>
Come on, WG - you know the American Public isn't literate enough to know what an economic plan IS, let alone "reject" it.
They're getting enough ejicaishun in the skools to feel like they shud conserve nacheral reesorses and pertekt Bambi & Thumper, but they'll let the other guy do that - maybe those smart men in charge of the government will take care of it for them.
Well, as Sam said back in reply #65:
Obviously the American people see the reality of their lives more clearly than the globalism boosters on this board. Are you going to argue with the American people and tell them that they are stupid ?People vote their pocketbooks.
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